400,000: Number of safety and quality tests Olay performs over the course of a year for both new and classic products. Olay has been considered the international leader in skin care sales for more than 50 years—but, like many innovations, it started as military technology. South African chemist Graham Gordon Wulff developed a skin treatment during World War II to prevent pilots’ burns from getting dehydrated. With help from his wife Dinah, he later tweaked his product to become a moisturizer for women.